


The Day will Dawn

by Cyane



Series: Erik Lehnsherr & Peter Maximoff [3]
Category: X-Men (Movieverse)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Broken Bones, Broken Families, Broken Promises, Bullying, Father-Son Relationship, Fist Fights, Gen, Government Experimentation, Kidnapping, Law Enforcement, Peter-centric, Pietro is Peter, Poor Peter, Prompt Fill, Sassy Raven, Torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-19
Updated: 2016-08-20
Packaged: 2018-07-15 21:41:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,227
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7239517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cyane/pseuds/Cyane
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Four times someone else was there for Peter, and the one time Erik was. <strong>Complete.</strong></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

It wasn't even a big deal. 

Fuck, if it was a big deal then Peter would be in that underground-Pentagon-prison where they'd kept Magneto. If it was a big deal then Peter would be strapped to a medi-bed and being shipped off to Trask Industries to be tested on. If it was a big deal then Peter wouldn't be handcuffed to a pipe in the basement of a cold, cement room, while he waited for them to decide what to do with him. 

(He had tried to run, and apparently you _can't_ break handcuffs, even with the velocity of super-speed. He now had very, very raw wrists.)

The handcuffs were just a little bit too tight, but after the super-fast, epic stunt he just pulled, he didn't exactly blame the police for not taking their chances. The only reason they caught him in the first place was because as soon as a lock was cracked, a silent alarm went off. Peter had paused his speed because the second door wasn't manual, and it took a long time to open. Cops managed to knock him unconscious before he even knew it, and he'd woken up in jail.

He had been trying to rob a bank. You could only go so long stealing Hostess desserts before you missed the thrill of stealing your own mutant-terrorist-president-mass-murderer-father from the Pentagon.

He was going to fucking give the money back, too! He wasn't an asshole.

But still was still in prison for the time being.

They'd told him to call someone who knew him and someone who could get the legal stuff sorted out. He called the only number he could remember that wasn't his mom's. Xavier. Yes, his personal phone.

_"Yes, this is Charles Xavier. Who am I speaking to?"_

"...Um, Prof.?" 

_"Peter?!"_

"Yeah, um... is Magn-Erik around? Available? I need to talk to him."

 _"You've been gone for a few_ days, _Peter! We've been worried sick! Where are you?"_

"About that. So, I'm sort of in jail again, so if Erik could come get me, that'd be great." 

One of the shitty-officers that had cuffed him cleared his throat loudly. "Hurry it up, kid. We don't have all day." Peter wanted to scream that, yes, unfortunately, they _did_ have all day and it was probably going to take _all day_ because Charles talked _so slow_ and Erik follows the speed limit and so therefore it was going to take all of today and all of tomorrow. But at least Erik would be there for him.

He had quickly-awkwardly, he was still cuffed- hung the phone up and turned back to the now-nearly-growling officer, and reluctantly let himself be led downstairs.

(Peter knew that Erik would be there. Whether Erik knew that he was Peter's father or not, they had a strong friendship after Peter moved to the school. They trained together sometimes. Erik encouraged him. He signed his cast. He went on runs with him, and sometimes Peter even slowed down a bit. Erik bit his tongue and didn't insult Peter's taste in music. Peter bit his tongue and didn't insult Erik's taste of coffee. He wasn't a teacher, he was a friend.)

So Erik would be there.

**X-X-X-X-X-X**

"You're a lucky little shit, huh?" The officer said, walking back into the room, shortly followed by another. Peter immediately jumped up, nearly tearing his hands off as he did so, but still beamed like it was his Birthday. Erik _had_ come. He was a father and he had come because he cared about Peter and he must've _known_ that they had some sort of connection because-

"Come along, Peter." 

Fuck no.

That was not Erik. That was not his father. That was Charles-fucking-Xavier, who was amazing, but it still didn't change the fact that it wasn't his father.

(The change of expression must have been apparent because the telepath grimaced sympathetically and turned to the guard, controlling him to unlock the cuffs.)

Peter sighed as the metal clamps released his aching wrists and he rubbed them gratefully, hissing when a scrape opened and blood started pooling. Charles kept two fingers on his temple and the officer held open the door as Xavier led Peter out of the basement and upstairs, and they both quickly left. 

Charles brought the old car.

(Peter felt numb.)

Once Charles was in shotgun, and his wheelchair properly in the back, Peter opened the driver's door only to find Hank, smiling tightly. He looked worried about something. "Hey Peter. Back, this time, okay?" The silver haired mutant nodded and quietly shuffled into the back, awaiting the awkward silence and/or conversations that were about to happen. 

"What'd you do?" Hank finally asked, halfway out of the parking lot. 

"Tried to rob a fucking bank, that's what," Peter said, pride taking over his disappointment. "I nearly did it, too, but that sonuvabitch played dirty and hit me from behind while I was slow."

The professor winced. "Rob a bank?"

"Yessir-ee."

"Why?"

"Bored." Peter said, bouncing his leg as the car hopped over speed bumps. 

(Erik would've gone slower.) 

(Peter was glad- that's right, he was glad- that Erik wasn't here. Fuck, that guy drove slow. Peter didn't like things that were slow. He was happy that Charles and Hank picked him up. He didn't need Erik. He had lived years without him, almost his entire life, and he didn't need the guy to show up when he got arrested- which was almost every week- and he didn't need the guy to sit with him or train with him or talk about his old life with him.)

(Why was he getting upset about this?) 

The two men in the front shared a look. "So, um," Hank started cautiously. "Erik would've picked you up but... he was really... er- busy."

Well.

Peter tried to convince himself that Erik probably _was_ really busy, especially since there were a lot of loose ends to tie up lately, to keep the government off of different mutants so that they could at least be invited to the school and get some respite. 

He shouldn't be whining. Complaining. Bitching on about how his father- who didn't even _know_ he was a father- didn't know up _once_. 

Still, it hurt. 

When Peter didn't answer, and he always got the last word, Charles turned around slowly and smiled reassuringly at the teenager. "It's alright, Peter. You're just projecting rather loudly. We can talk more once we get back." 

**X-X-X-X-X-X**

Before anyone could say anything about anything to Peter, he had already zipped up to his room and cranked up his music before flopping on the bed and trying not to feel anything. Just listen to his music.

That's when he heard it from downstairs. 

Raven- or was it Mystique- was laughing. It was such a rare occurrence that Peter shot out of bed and ran to the banister to see what was going on. He had become good friends with the blue mutant, somewhat because they both hated the way they looked, and also because Raven might just be the only other person in the school who wouldn't yell at him for blasting his music in the middle of the night. 

And Charles just encouraged their relationship because Peter got her to wear clothes. _"It's not that I'm trying to cover you up, or whatever, but shit- you are literally naked. Like, I love my skin and all but I'm going to wear clothes for the heck of it. I guess it's a personal decision, though."_ Well, sometimes she wore something. Like a t-shirt. But there was no way she was ever covering up her beautiful, super-powered, super-strong, evil feet of death.

"How are you so good at this?" She snorted, throwing her hands into the air. She was sitting on one of the soft couches, a table in between her and her opponent. Cards were spread out across the table, and Peter tried to see any pattern to where they were placed, but could find none.

Peter watched- stunned- as Raven reluctantly handed a pile of cards to none other than Erik Lehnsherr. Erik grinned and took the cards. "We've been playing for hours, and you really think I'm still an amateur?"

For hours, huh?

Busy, huh?

Fuck.

Raven noticed Peter standing on the banister. "Hey, Peter! You're back! How was it in jail?" The words were lighthearted and teasing, but Peter still felt like he had been kicked in the gut by one of her evil blue feet. So _everyone knew_? Everyone knew and yet when he asked for Erik, Erik was _too busy playing cards to pick up his son from prison?_

Fuck them. Fuck Erik. 

Erik smiled at Peter warmly, beckoning him to play with them. Peter had nearly forgotten that they were friends. It wasn't that hard, considering that even if they weren't father and son, _friends_ usually had each other's backs and they didn't bail at each other when they had a card game game going on and the other was handcuffed to a pipe in the basement of a fucking police station. 

"Whatever," he finally sighed, before trudging up the stairs and flopping back on his bed.

(Why was he so upset?)

(Why didn't Erik care?)

(Why didn't he _come_?)

In all honestly, Peter was just thankful that Charles and Hank cared enough to pick him up as quickly as they had. It was nice to know that he had two people he could count on.


	2. Chapter 2

Okay, yeah, Peter was still pissed. 

But you've got to understand that an hour feels like an entire _day_ to him, the way his mind and thoughts move so fast, and so he doesn't hold grudges for long periods of time. Besides, it wasn't like Erik knew they were related. It wasn't like Charles couldn't, because he had fucking telepathy and it was easy for Charles to break him out- probably easier than it would have been for Erik to do the same.

If Erik had known, he would've been there. Erik would've come as fast as Peter's mom, and he would've saved the day. Gotten Peter out of jail.

Would've.  
Should've.  
Didn't.

\--But that didn't matter because Peter wasn't holding a grudge anyway so he didn't care.

It had been a few days since the incident, since Charles tried talking to Peter about how Erik tried not to get attached to people, since Hank scolded him for getting caught _again_ , since Erik didn't show up, and since... well, again, it didn't matter. It was over and time had passed, so although it lingered in the back of Peters head, because he was an asshole, it didn't matter.

Instead, at the moment, he was in the Xavier Mansion's kitchen, drinking all the lemonade. (And if it was the last of Hank's delicious lemonade that Erik had saved for himself and hidden in the very back of the third fridge in the second kitchen on the second floor, well, that wasn't Peter's problem.)

Really, he just wanted some lemonade. 

"I was saving that, you know." A voice drifted out from the left doorframe, filled with irritation. Peter snorted sardonically.

"It's way good, man. You're missing out."

(That probably wasn't necessary.)

Erik's eyebrow rose. "Huh. So Raven was right, you _are_ upset with me."

Bingo.

Wait- no he wasn't, he just established that he wasn't. No upset feelings or grudges going on here. (Besides, if he said _yes_ , how was he supposed to explain to Erik that it was for such a stupid reason? Or to explain that they were related?)

"I'm not upset man, this is just some fucking delicious lemonade." He held out the half-empty (half-full?) glass to Erik in a blur of movement, catching it before it could spill. 

The older mutant fought back a grin. "You know, Peter, that has your saliva in it?"

Peter let out a whiny groan. "Ohhh c'mon Mag-net-to! You can't complain if you are offered and don't take it!"

"Unsantitary. There's a cold going through the school; did you know that?"

"No..."

"And anything that spreads germs should probably be taken care of."

"Whoa!" Peter held him self between Erik and the lemonade. "The drink didn't do anything, man, the germ-spreading machine is _me_!"

"So you should be taken care of?"

Peter shrugs. "Probably, at some point." This conversation had turned a different atmosphere as he spoke. The smile on Erik's face slowly fell. (Inwardly Peter sighed.) "I mean, let's be honest, I could be the fastest germ-spreader in the school. Might want to quarantine me or something."

Awkward, to say the least. 

And then Erik sort of just have a little nod and slowly walked back out, and Peter wanted to hit himself with high-speed velocity because now Erik thought he was a complete _weirdo_ and wouldn't ever talk to him again. Hell, he had just walked out. Like that. 

Glaring at where his father had previously stood, Peter turned the glass over and let the remaining lemonade pour out onto the floor and counter before dashing off to find something less depressing to do. 

**X-X-X-X-X-X**

At Charles' school, it was pretty often that students or professors had negative feelings that could be dangerous, (per say, Erik was upset and so he could accidentally- or not accidentally- smash Charles' wheelchair...) and so when Peter had negative feelings, he just went running around the school for a few until he was worn out or passed out or something. Raven told him it wasn't healthy, but since when did Raven and her feet-of-flying-death know anything about _healthy_?!

So Peter walked outside and ran, and ran, and ran.

He went on longer than he probably should've, since he could already feel the ache growing in his feet, but he kept going because he was thinking. How could he possibly get Erik to like him? How could he possibly tell Erik, right after his _real_ family had died, that he was his son? How could he possibly expect Erik to lay down everything to be a father?

He really didn't, expect that. Not really. He just needed Erik to know, but that seemed a shit-ton like emotionally manipulating Magneto. _"Oh, um, you're really my father who didn't know I existed until now, I never had a father for the first gazillion years of my life, but I don't expect you to be my father, if you don't want to... I mean I'm hurting and shit but you are too so we can just go on being friends and you pretending I don't go to school here... but no biggie..."_

Yeah, no. Okay, so he'd figure out a way to tell Erik that he didn't expect anything of him, he just deserved to know.

(His legs hurt, really, really badly at this point...)

There had to be some way.

(Cramping up and everything...)

Erik would find out eventually, nevertheless. 

(Running over water was taking up a lot of energy that Peter didn't have...)

With a gasp, Peter's legs completely froze up and buckled, and he immediately sank down into the pond he was running in. How long had it been? Hours? He wasn't supposed to go for more than thirty minutes at most in real time, because that was seriously like half a day to Peter. But obviously he had been running for longer than he had expected to, and he couldn't even feel his legs in the clear water. All he could see was the cloudy sky. 

Sometimes he passed out after releasing his anger, and this was seriously not the time. He hadn't told anyone he would be out there, so nobody was coming for him. The pond was deeper than he'd expected, and so within twenty minutes he would drown. (Expanded lung capacity only worked for so long.) The water was also freezing, because it was fall. 

But really, it would be nice to just... sink down.... because he was really tired...

Just go to sleep for five minutes... 

Peter welcomed the darkness when it came.

**X-X-X-X-X-X**

He lurched awake, choking on water and leaning over to throw it back up. He was drenched, and freezing, and- not in the pond? Looking up to see Raven's murderous expression, he sorta wished he was back in the water sleeping.

"You fucking _idiot_ , Peter! If I hadn't been looking out my window long enough to see you fall, you'd be dead!" 

Groggily he laid back down, feeling even more exhausted than before. "Oh, thanks, Raven. I guess I was running for longer than I thought..." 

Muttering curses and obscenities and threats, Raven continued dragging Peter away from the pond. "You asshole, I knew you were going to be running your frustration off. I overheard Erik and Charles talking about you, and apparently Erik-"

"Shit," Peter mumbled. "Shit, shit, shit.... what'd he say about me?"

Raven looked amused. "He said he thought you were still scared of him or something. Him being Magneto, all that. He said you acted strange around him."

As Raven pulled him up the stairs- painful, but Peter was too tired to actually give a shit- she swung open the door and called for Dr. McCoy. "Hank! Medi-bed, medicine, blankets, pronto!" 

Feeling unconsciousness grasp at his head, Peter reached up and grabbed Mystique's shoulder desperately. "Hey- don't tell him? Make sure he doesn't... f'nd out..."

Before he completely drifted off, he felt a warm blanket being wrapped around him and a bed being placed underneath him. Raven carefully removed his hand and put her own on his arm. "You're an idiot, Peter."


	3. Chapter 3

"What the hell do you mean, they have him?!" Raven snarled, slamming a blue fist onto the table. 

Charles pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "Raven..."

"Don't _Raven_ me, Charles! They've got Peter- he could be dead right now! What the fuck happened?!"

Before Charles could stutter out what had happened, Erik burst into the room, eyes flaming in rage. He looked horrible. He had the same expression as Mystique, but he looked about ready to kill people. Well, Charles hardly knew the girl he had grown up with... who knew if she would hill someone because of this? She probably would.

"They took a mutant- a _student_ , right from the school. They took one of us," Erik hissed, "and we can't just sit here doing nothing!" 

"His name is _Peter_!" Raven snapped.

"It won't matter what his name is if we don't get him back!" Erik shot back, turning on her and wondering why she was so upset about that.

"Both of you stop it!" Charles yelled. "This will do nothing to get Peter back. Right now we have to work together."

Raven shot Erik another nasty glare, but nodded and turned back to Charles. 

"What do we do?"

**X-X-X-X-X-X**

Peter woke up groggily, expecting to be in his room, in the middle of the night. 

(He even slept quickly, so he was often awake before anyone else. This was usually not a problem until Professor X decided that other students needed sleep, and so he wasn't allowed to disturb anyone else. Boring.)

But he wasn't in his room.

He was in a big metal rectangular box. Peter stood up, looking around. Had he gotten captured? There were lots of disappearances going around, Mutants being kidnapped, but never inside the school.

The floor was rough and bumpy and reminded Peter of the rubber bottom side of shoes. 

"Ah. You're awake, now?"

Peter jumped at the voice, looking around. There was nobody else inside the box.

"Who are you? Where am I?"

"I am a scientist. You don't need to know my name, Peter. Your location... well, you don't need to know that either."

Peter rolled his eyes. That gave him almost nothing to go off of. The only thing he was sure of, now, was that this man- or woman- was a scientist and he was probably going to do tests on him. Because he was a mutant. Which probably led to, yes, he had been kidnapped. 

Great. Fantastic. 

"Alright- fine. What am I doing here?"

"We've become aware of the fact that your mutation is speed. Correct?"

"Yeah... but what-"

"You are going to run."

Peter frowned. "Run? You want me to run around in here?" He took the scientist's silence as confermation and sneered. "And what if I don't?"

He sounded smug. "We'll give you some incentive."

**X-X-X-X-X-X**

Apparently 'incentive' was basically turning the floor into a treadmill- that was the floor material, similar, but plastic- and they had the technology to speed it up as fast as Peter could go, and faster. It wasn't a comforting thought.

They turned it on and the floor started moving. Peter nearly burst out laughing at how slow it was, but he played along and started walking. "This working? You know, I can go _way_ faster then whatever speed this thing goes-"

It sped up.

It kept speeding up.

And eventually Peter found himself surprised that he actually had to _jog_ to keep up with it, but even then it still sped up. He tried to go faster and 'slow' time, but it only sped up. Fuck. 

He was barely keeping up with the floor as it zoomed under his feet. How the heck did they make this?

Even as he struggled, it continued to get faster until it was just over the point where Peter couldn't keep up. He tripped and fell, and immediately he was thrown back into the wall- which had been heated to nearly a melting temperature-

"F _uck_!"

...Immediately burning him, and he jumped up and ran again. 

So this was incentive. If he stopped running, he would get burned to a crisp.

Finally the floor stopped gaining speed, but unfortunately it was still going incredibly fast even by Peter's standards, and he continued to run into the wall, each time hurting more than the last. It was getting harder to stand up and keep going, because he was worn out.

**X-X-X-X-X-X**

It was crossing the fiftieth time he had run into the wall when he actually didn't hiss- he let out an agonized scream, tried to pick himself up, and kept running. But afterwards, it was all screams. He was tired and every time his back ran into the boiling wall, it was for a longer period of time. 

Run. Slip. Hit. Agony. Up. Run. Slip. Hit. Agony.

"Turn it off!" He screamed. "Seriously, man, turn it _the fuck off_!" 

In the distance he could hear something that sounded vaguely like gunfire. He felt his heart leap in hope.

**X-X-X-X-X-X**

"Go, Erik!" Raven screamed. "Get him out of there, and we'll cover you!" 

Erik shook his head. "No- he's getting away! I'll get him!"

"Erik, Peter _needs you_ , dammit! Go help him!"

"I need to get their leader- he runs the operation!"

Erik ran off in the direction the leader had gone, and Raven wanted to scream as she fought off other guards. Beast looked just as irritated. Instead Raven turned to Logan and nodded. "Hurry- we've got this!"

Logan looked at the metal box. There were screams echoing from inside, and Logan had no idea how he was supposed to get in. If Erik had just ripped off one side, or actually not been a complete asshole, this wouldn't be an issue. That man was getting a kick in the face from him when this was over, and going by Hank and Raven's expressions, he'd be getting three.

"I don't know how to get in!" He called. Mystique cursed. 

"Is it solid? No cracks or locks or anything?"

"It's- it's a fingerprint identifier, it says for employees only!"

Raven ran over, morphed her finger into one of the staff she had seen- a scientist, probably- and the door (which was a side of the box), and before she could look inside she was thrown back into the fray. "Get him out!" She called.

Logan looked inside. 

Peter was a complete blur, as well as the floor. _It must be going just as fast as the kid is..._

The speedster was running right towards Logan, but he wasn't getting anywhere. He looked exhausted. 

"Peter!"

Peter's head shot up and he lost concentration, slipping again and slamming into the back wall. Logan gritted his teeth as the teenager let out another scream and scrambled to his feet to run again. 

Was the wall shocking him? Burning him? Obviously it was painful. "Fuck- don't worry, bub, we'll get you out, just keep going!"

Logan noticed a control panel to the side and after giving the thousands of buttons a good long stare, he just sliced through the entire panel with his claws. Sparks flew and there was a sizzle, but it seemed to do the trick when the floor stopped moving and Peter ran right out of the box, stopping only when he collapsed. He was completely unconscious. 

"We've got him!" Logan called, quickly adding, "He needs medical _now_ , Mystique!" when he saw the bubbling skin on Peter's back.

**X-X-X-X-X-X**

They were on the jet back home, sitting in fuming silence.

Erik had gotten- and killed- the leader of the operation. Charles was giving him the silent treatment for doing so, not to mention after Raven told him that Erik had completely abandoned the team, and the plan, to get revenge. 

Raven and Logan were giving Erik the death glare all the way back, and Raven was barely keeping her silence. She was so close to screaming at the man.

Hank was sedating and fixing Peter up in the jet, because apparently his burns were so bad that he was doubtful Peter would make it to the mansion if he didn't do so. Erik had the decency to look slightly abashed, but nobody was on good terms with him, and Hank was muttering curses toward the man.

No- it was awkward silence until Peter, in a drugged and half-awake state of mind, started talking.

"Er'k?"

Raven's head shot up, and even Hank seemed to freeze.

Peter was looking right at Erik, although his head was swaying. 

He slowly went with Hank's hand as he was pushed deeper into the medi-bed. Erik looked bewildered. Peter finally smiled and leaned into the bed, mumbling, "I knew you'd c'me..."

As he fell back into sleep and another sedative, Raven turned to Magneto and finally fully scowled. 

"When we get back, I'm going to fucking _kill you_."

**X-X-X-X-X-X**

"What were you thinking?!" Logan yelled. "You completely ignored the plan- Peter could've _died_ \- and you ended up killing another man just out of revenge! Mutants don't need that kind of publicity."

Raven huffed. Charles shook his head.

"Everyone, Erik was just doing what he thought-"

"Thought right? Was that what you were going to say, Charles?" Raven snapped. "Because he killed someone, and I thought you were against that!"

Erik sighed. "You all had it covered. Besides, if he wasn't dead, who's to say that it wouldn't have happened again? I put an end to the entire operation."

"He thought you came to save him, Erik! He thought that you came for _him_!"

"I don't even know him!"

"That doesn't matter! And you do, you _do_ \- he's the one that busted your ass out of the Pentagon-"

"Why should I care? I didn't ask him to!"

Little did they know that Peter and Hank were just coming around the corner. Peter stopped Hank before they came into the room. "Hey, actually, Mr. Doctor man, I think I'd rather go back to sleep." Peter said. Hank grimaced sympathetically.

"Peter-"

"Let's go back. I can say hi to them later."

"...Alright."

**X-X-X-X-X-X**

Peter honestly didn't know why he bothered to hope for something so stupid anymore. Erik obviously didn't like him as a person, or as a mutant, so why would he ever like him as a son? Besides, he couldn't expect Erik to baby him all the time. He didn't need that crap in his life. He didn't even know they were related, so how was he to know that it was his son who had been captured?

No, Erik cared about mutants. That was the reason he had come. Although Peter hated this inward complaining spree he seemed to have going, the reason Erik had come was because mutants in general were targets, not Peter.

Erik stopped the operation.

He saved lives.

_"I don't even know him!"_

Peter couldn't help but remember waking up for a second on the jet, and seeing Erik's concerned face nearby. 

_"Why should I care?"_

Yeah. Well.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't get your hopes up. 
> 
> I don't know. Maybe you'll like it. I don't like this chapter very much but I promised to post and it's... it's decent. I'll spend more time on the next- _last_ \- chapter! YAY! It's almost over! What will happen with ERIK?!
> 
> Warning: there is literally no Erik in this. OOC is assured. Plot is iffy. 
> 
> I guess it's not really necessary for you to read this chapter, so I suppose you _can_ skip it, but there might be some mentions of it in the final chapter... so. Your choice.

He had just _barely_ gotten out of the sickbay. Even with his healing enhancement, the burns and pulled muscles, and exhaustion, it still took a good five days to recover. Hank finally- grudgingly- gave Peter the good-to-go. 

During his stay there he learned three things, however.

One, under all that blue, scaly, badass skin of tough grouchy rocks, Raven was a total softie. And she had a better bedside manner than Hank, who continuously made Peter fear for his life.

Two, running like that _hurts_ like hell, and third-degree burns are nothing to laugh about. They are things to cry about.

And three. 

Erik Lehnsherr did not care about him. It didn't matter what he was told, or if it was an order or not- or if he was Peter's father or not, for that matter- Erik was _not going to be there for him_. In five days he had fully accepted the notion.

So he was just another student. So Peter wouldn't ever tell him, and eventually anyone else who knew about his secret would also die, eventually, and it would die with them. Erik would never know, and they would continue to be strangers. Peter thought that they could both live with that.

**X-X-X-X-X**

The first day out of the wing and he already felt the ache in his legs. He slowly limped around the mansion, storm cloud hovering above him and all. It wasn't that he couldn't run, not really. It was more like... he just... he just couldn't. 

It felt like he had been running forever.

He had been _too slow_. 

He never, ever wanted to feel too slow again. It just wouldn't happen.

It was a scary thought, that something was faster than himself. He had always been the fastest. He could always get out of situations. (Well... if you ignored the bit about Apocalypse, that is. Peter tried not to think about that, though.)

Somehow word had spread pretty fast around the school and Peter was already bracing for 'are you okay's and 'you should be resting's. Except he didn't _want_ to rest, not when he had to get faster. And obviously he was fine.

He... just... he'd had a bad week so far. 

And the stress was getting to him. With the emotional roller-coaster of being Erik Lehnsherr's son, with the additional trauma of getting kidnapped and- not really tortured... but- experimented on by scientists, _and the entire ordeal that was his normal life..._

Yeah. Bad week. That was one way of putting it. 

**X-X-X-X-X**

The school was buzzing about the entire thing- the kidnapping. A few other students had also been taken and experimented on; but the worst injuries, besides Peter's, were two broken legs, a mild concussion, temporary blindness in one eye, and a few bruised ribs. 

It could've been worse, that was for sure. Still, every mutant had been rescued and after the operation of destroying the base- with thanks to Erik, for killing the leader of the whole thing- Professor X and the rest of the staff were pretty certain that they wouldn't resurface. 

So what Magneto had done was for a good cause. 

That was good. 

**X-X-X-X-X**

Some things weren't going so well. 

Classes had just ended, and for an hour everyone was lounging around. In one of the rooms with big couches and tables- which was where Peter and a swarm of other students were residing- he had never felt so awkward. 

He had never felt so _down_. Well, that wasn't true, neither of those. He had been way more depressed than this before. 

But the entire situation of his life was getting to him. He just felt angry. He felt lonely, and he had no idea why. (His mind whispered thoughts about his father but before they could get into his mind he sharply shredded them to pieces.) 

"So, Maximoff?" 

He turned to the raven-haired kid. His mutation _had_ to have been strength, or something, going by his giant arms. Whoa. Peter tried to not to be a total bitch. He could be decent. 

"Yeah?" 

The kid smirked. "So... I heard that when those guys took you, they had a machine that they made you run on." 

The room got uncomfortably quiet and all eyes were on Peter. 

Peter blinked. Okay. Maybe 'decent' was putting it lightly, because he was pretty sure he was nearly smoking. 

"Yeah." He said stiffly. 

"Like, _run_ on. I thought you were supposed to be fast." 

So the guy was picking an argument. Other mutants in the room seemed to sense the drain in the atmosphere and some hurried out. Others just bit their lips and waited for the fight to break out. Jesus Christ. 

Peter's nose scrunched up. "You think I'm not?" 

In a flash- which was longer than it should've taken, but only by a second, because Peter's legs were still aching- the dark haired student was punching himself in the face. Some students burst out laughing, but the smarter ones immediately left the room, not wanting to be a part of the fight when the staff came by. 

Some kids were snickering and telling 'Derek' to get back on his feet. Derek it was. 

The guy was on the ground, looking murderous for being humiliated in front of everyone. "You shouldn't have fucking done that. I don't think you know what _my_ mutation is, Maximoff," He snarled out, getting to his feet. The majority of students, even those who looked like they were waiting for a fight to commence, were quickly exiting. 

"Yeah? What is it, then?" 

Derek clacked his teeth together. "I'm a _telepath_." 

_Shit_. What? Telepath?! That guy looked like he could be a world famous wrestler. 

Besides, Peter and telepaths did not mix. He had managed to stay away from their powers, for now, since they couldn't read his mind, but he had never actually considered that- 

_Thud_. 

Peter gasped for air as he fell to the ground, mind going completely blank as Derek slammed a heavy fist into his gut. 

"You- you can't read my mind, though!" He shot back quickly, wondering how the hell this guy had been so fast. "Your power doesn't work on me." 

Derek raised an eyebrow. "Didn't you just see what I did? I don't have to read your mind, Silver. I just have to stop it from moving. That's the easy part. You're just as slow as me, now, only I'm still the stronger one here." 

Peter tried not to panic as he realized the implications. This guy could basically freeze him. Vulnerable. 

Fuck- no, no, no. Peter was not letting this happen again. 

"Okay- Jesus- I'm sorry, man. Let it go." 

"I'm just saying!" Derek yelled back, hitting him again. "You guys think that you're all that- you guys with the 'cool' mutations, like Mystique and Carly and you- you think that you're all that!" Peter had no idea who Carly was. "This is me just _showing_ you that you guys are just the same as us! And sometimes we're the stronger ones! Because apparently, even after you got kidnapped, you still don't get it!" 

Peter was trying to make sense of the words, but in all honesty, he was having a hard time staying upright. It wasn't so much painful as it was disorienting. 

Derek threw his hands to the sky. Peter almost pitted the guy. "I had to work- hard _work_ for my mutation. I had to train, and train, and train. All you've ever done is run away! You don't have to do anything!" 

"I can't run away now," Peter rasped. 

After a moment of heavy breathing, Moira MacTaggert stomped in, huffing, with her hands on her hips. She took in the situation for a second. 

"What's going on?!" 

Peter and Derek both looked up at her, exhausted. Derek quickly noticed how it must look. 

"Uh- ma'am- we had a, er, disagreement." 

The woman looked to Peter and he just shrugged, as if to say, _Whatever he says- same for me._ He was too fucking tired for this shit. He was too overwhelmed with everything that was going on. 

Whatever happened... well, let it happen. 

Honestly, he had nothing to do, now. He had wasted his life away in his mom's basement, stealing because he was bored. Then he had wasted his life away here, never really helping and never really going to school, either. Then he had wasted his life away without telling Erik. 

And he was never going to tell Erik. 

Peter didn't care. 

(Inwardly he told himself he was being over-dramatic, but he had been telling himself that so many times that it had lost most of it's meaning.) 

Moira glared at both of them. 

"Disagreement? Does this disagreement include hitting each other in the face? Because both of you have bruises. Peter Maximoff- Hank wants you to medical, _now_. As for you, Mr. Black," She said, turning on Derek. "Professor Xavier wants to speak with you, probably concerning your mutation. Both of you are going to get punishments. This behavior is _not_ allowed, and you know it." 

Back to medical it was. 

Peter couldn't help but sardonically smirk as Derek walked off. "Just saying, that he hit _himself_ in the face." 

Moira rolled her eyes. "Infirmary, Maximoff." Her voice had less of an edge to it, now. "Stop getting yourself into trouble." 

**X-X-X-X-X**

Hank sighed as Peter walked back in. 

"Alright. Back on the medi-bed. The entire school, for the most part, knows what happened, and I'm guessing that some of your previous injuries have been rattled." 

"It wasn't even my fault." 

"Who hit first?" 

"Him!" Peter laughed. Hank grinned. "Ah, yes. A group of mutants came running in, telling me that you were making some other kid punch himself in the face. I'm guessing that was what you were talking about? Because that was _you_." After a moment Hank paused. "How did he even hit you?" 

"Telepathy. Got into my brain and stopped me from using my mutation." 

The doctor winced. "Huh. Well, Charles is talking to him now, so... it shouldn't happen again." 

Like that was supposed to be a comfort. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Laammmmmmeee. Sorry. Feel free to bash it in the comments and yell at me for being a lazy lil shit. 
> 
> Also- apologies for the language in this one. I've had a bad day and it probably showed through. There was a ton of language. Sorry. Sorry sorry sorry.
> 
> The next chapter might take a bit longer but it's also going to BE a bit longer. It'll be much better, I promise. Thanks to all who are sticking with this story as it progresses. Just one more chapter!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And, finally, Erik is there for his son.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WELL, IT'S THE FINAL CHAPTER.  
> That also means that these are the final notes. 
> 
> Let's keep in mind that this chapter is going to be like 80% Erik POV with the exception of the very beginning and the very end. (I think.)
> 
> Also, a great big danke schön to everyone who has stuck with these extremely long waiting periods and lame chapters.  
> I appriciate every single amazing comment, because you guys are great, along with everyone who taps that Kudos button, the Bookmark button and the wonderful readers out there.
> 
> I'm sorry it took OVER A MONTH to complete, oh my god, apologies, but I had a lot of stuff come up right in the middle of writing this chapter.  
> Oh, and to top all that off, I wrote a detailed draft out of this chapter and it exited without saving because updates. I cannot begin to express the frustration and anger I felt- and that's putting it lightly.
> 
> But enough excuses and me blabbing on and on.
> 
> Enjoy the last chapter, you guys. I love you all.

Peter saw Derek the day after. 

With his accelerated healing factor, his shiner was already fading. Derek still didn't look so good, and everyone sucked in a breath of anticipation whenever the two mutants were seen in the same room. Luckily for everyone, Derek just glared at Peter and Peter just scowled at Derek and they walked away.

Screw that guy and his shiny black hair. (No, Peter was _not_ jealous.)

Peter had too much on his plate right now. He didn't need a rival at school to top off all the daddy-issues and PTSD and shit. Well- that is, Charles and Hank said it was PTSD. Peter didn't believe them for a second, though, because nearly _every_ mutant had traumatic stress, and he was just another face in the crowd.

"You two are so immature." Raven finally said, sitting down next to him on one of the staircases. "Everyone knows what happened. He was jealous, you let your emotions slip, you both got a black eye. And now you're both pouting."

He swatted at her angrily. "I'm not pouting! I'm avoiding that guy; he's got a mean right hook, alright?"

The blue-skinned mutant gave a small smile. "Sorry... it's just... I don't know. I'm glad you're okay, that's all."

"Thanks."

They sat in silence for a few minutes before Peter stood up to stretch his legs. That was another thing- they were falling asleep all the time now. Hank told him there would be some temporary side effects from the meds, but pins-and-needles was not pleasant. 

"Where are you going?" Raven immediately asked as he got up. Peter sighed. "Nowhere... it's just... my leg."

Jeez- awkward.

"Maybe you should talk to Hank about it?"

"Already did. It's fine."

Raven sent him a disapproving look but didn't press it any further. The entire 'leg situation' was a sensitive subject for everyone.

"It's funny, really-" Peter said, snorting and sliding back down to sit on the step. The blue-skinned mutant glanced at him in concern and sat back down next to him. Peter continued, going for an amused tone. 

"This entire shitstorm started because I robbed a bank."

She blinked. "That was *months* ago, Peter... besides, what does that have to do with anything?"

"Because, for some fucking reason, I thought..." Peter broke off with a sigh. His eyes stung and he hated himself for crying over something so unimportant. Finally he continued, although his voice shook more than before. "I thought that Erik would come get me."

Raven opened her mouth to respond but Peter threw his hands in the air and cut her off. "And I _know_ that sounds childish and it is- and I know that I'm being a spoiled little whiny brat about it, but I just. I thought that... I thought that maybe he would remember be, from back when we broke him out of the Pentagon. And he would take forever to get to the station."

Mystique looked at her friend, a dark pool of pity rolling in her stomach as she watched him. He had a longing, faraway look in his eyes. 

"...and then he would completely overreact and-or threaten the guy keeping me there. We would get into the car, and he would look at me and ask me what I did. I would tell him I tried to rob a bank, and he would look all concerned but still just a little bit proud."

"Peter-"

"And I would complain because he drives so _frickin slow_ , and he would just laugh and ask me if I wanted to walk. And that'd be funny, because I could totally walk and it's ironic, I think, and then I would say something insulting as a joke, and of course he wouldn't take it personally and he would challenge me to a race."

Raven cringed. Looking back on it, that wasn't what had happened at all...

"Then I would call his bluff and halfway there he would make me get back in the car. Maybe he would even let me drive. Then he would look at my wrist- because I jacked it up pretty good- and he'd freak out and think that the god-awful humans did it to me which they kind of did." 

The shining light in the kleptomaniac's eyes slowly dimmed back to dullness. He took in a shaky breath and Raven wrapped an arm around his shoulders. 

Peter appreciated it, and knew that although she was just the tiniest bit uncomfortable with the gesture, she wouldn't let go because she was an amazing friend. So he let out a sob and started bawling into her shoulder. 

"I don't even f-fucking know why I'm so upset over it..." He mumbled. "It's just, the entire time, I thought that maybe he was really busy- or- or he wasn't around, and so he had no idea..."

Oh- right. Shit.

Raven remembered, then, what had happened. 

"Then I came back, and I just-"

They had been playing cards.

"You guys were doing some game, which was great or w-whatever..."

She hushed him and immediately felt the pity turn to guilt. Charles had come down and informed them that Peter had been arrested- he had even stressed, in front of Erik's face, that _humans_ had arrested a _mutant_ \- and Erik had shrugged it off, telling his friend that he was in threat of losing a card game. Charles had insisted that Erik go pick him up, and only gave up when Erik threatened to get the helmet.

_"Hey, Peter! You're back! How was it in jail?"_

Erik had offered him a chance to play their game, and Peter had just stared at them, said, _"Whatever,"_ and walked away. They had both been taken aback by his response, but they shook it off as post-arrested-grumpiness. (Peter had that a lot.)

Raven wrapped her arms around the trembling kid and hugged him tightly. "Oh my god- I am so, so sorry, Peter."

"Don't be." Peter said simply. "Honestly, I would've been fine. It's just the fact that these things just _keep_ happening. One thing on top of another. And I'm fine if he's never there for me as a father, or a friend, or a mentor, or even a teacher or acquaintance, but I thought that he liked mutants. And if he's leaving a mutant... ugh- if he doesn't even care about me _because I'm a mutant_ , then I honestly don't know how the hell he'll ever care about me."

After letting the words sink in, Mystique realized that she couldn't say anything. There was nothing she could say.

So she just buried her face into his silver hair and they both sat like that for a while, sitting on the stairs together, mourning, grieving. 

There was nothing else to say.

**X-X-X-X-X-X**

"You know, another student- Derek Black. He and Peter got into a fistfight yesterday. Used his telepathy against him. That really is an issue, isn't it?" Charles said conversationally, glancing out the window and sipping his tea innocently. 

Erik rolled his eyes. "Everyone is making such a fuss. Is there something I'm missing?"

Charles shot him an annoyed glare. "If you believe that you're missing something important, you should look into the matter with a bit more seriousness, my friend. Do not expect someone else to spit it out for you."

The other man blinked in surprise. "So I _am_ missing something. He's the boy who helped you and Logan break me out. Got a few decent hits on En Sabah Nur. Called _me_ , for some reason, to bail him out. Drank all my lemonade. Got kidnapped. You all wouldn't stop yelling at me because I chose to put an end to mutant experimentation instead of immediately rushing to the boy."

The telepath let out a long, frustrated sigh.

"There is so much more to _this_ than you know," He said sharply, catching the other man's attention with the variation of the quote he had said so long ago. 

Erik pinched the bridge of his nose.

"You and Raven. If something is the matter, just tell me." He levitated the metal chessboard Charles had gotten him over to the table where they were sitting. "Now why don't we argue _while_ we play chess? Like the good old days?"

Charles couldn't keep the laugh to himself. "Quite right."

**X-X-X-X-X-X**

"You know, I was thinking back to what you said, Erik."

"I say lots of things, you're going to need to specify."

"Right before the mission- I was yelling at you, telling you that it wasn't just 'some mutant'. That he had a name and that his name was Peter."

"God, not this again!"

"No, listen! You said 'It won't matter what his name is if we don't get him back', and I've been thinking about it for a long time."

Erik fell silent.

Raven continued. "And I remember how you were in one of those horrible camps, and they took away people's names and gave them numbers."

No response.

"And I started thinking, you've got a problem with names."

Nothing.

"Because most of the time, you still call me Mystique. You call them Angel, and Banshee, and Havoc. Beast. And I kept thinking about it, and I started to understand, Erik."

Erik slowly turned back to her yellow eyes.

"I started to understand. And I'm sorry; i's not my business. But I think I'm set on Raven. And I know that Hank personally hates being called Beast. I know that whenever you're called Magneto you don't know how to feel. But in the end, I don't care if you call me Mystique- if it matters to you. Just... just remember, that it doesn't matter if you can't remember Peter's name. Just remember him as a person."

**X-X-X-X-X-X**

Eventually Erik decided that- yes- something was going on and apparently everyone else on the goddamned _planet_ knew about it. And it had to do with him and Peter, and it was important enough that everyone was hinting about it to him.

So he was going to have to do some research on the matter.

First he went to Hank. (Mostly because Hank was obviously going to know something, the gossiping man he was, but also because Erik didn't like the doctor very much and he wanted to get that over with.)

"Is there something going on with Peter Maximoff?"

Hank looked at him like he had grown another head. "Oh, so you've finally figured that something was up? That sure was quick," He drawled on sarcastically. "Really, you should race the kid sometime. You're practically flying through this extremely difficult test you've been presented."

Erik narrowed his eyes. "I could kill you in a _second_ , McCoy."

That shut Beast up pretty quickly, although there was nothing behind the threat.]

"Okay, okay. Look, it's pretty obvious _something_ is going on with him. If you're so curious, go figure it out yourself."

_Go figure it out yourself!_

(Erik wasn't being childish about this.)

**X-X-X-X-X-X**

Next up was Derek Black because although Erik doubted he really knew anything- the kid really wasn't that bright, for being a telepath- Charles had mentioned he had gotten into a fight with Peter recently so obviously he had something to do with it. 

"What happened with Peter Maximoff?" Erik asked after they sat down. 

Immediately the young telepath tensed and stood up. "I didn't _do_ anything, Mr. Lehnsherr! He- he was just- we... we-!"

Erik rolled his eyes. "You're not in trouble, I don't care what you did or didn't do. Just tell me exactly what happened or else I'll-" Inside his mind, Charles' voice rang out. _"No you most absolutely will not, you absolute arse- if you threaten one of the students I will personally-"_

He finished with, "Make sure you don't get any dinner."

Whether he threatened the kid with death or dinner, both seemed to be equally as bad to Derek, who paled immensely. 

"Alright- um... well, see, I had really had a bad day, and so I asked him about his time in captivity, and he ended up punching me in the face, and so I hit him..."

Charles interrupted again. _"Erik, I won't have you interrogating students-"_

With a long sigh, Erik cut Derek off, who, at this point, was stuttering out random thoughts and lies and whatever came into his head. "That's enough, thank you," He mumbled, before walking away to Charles' office.

**X-X-X-X-X-X**

"You can't just get into my head like that, Charles," Erik said conversationally. "It's unnerving." 

The professor smiled. "Apologies, my friend. I was rather afraid for Mr. Black's well-being, you see. I had a good friend who was causing him to launch into a severe panic attack." Erik snorted before sitting down in the velvet seat by the desk. 

"Yes, yes. So, I suppose I'll have to 'interrogate' you now. What's wrong with Maximoff?"

Charles frowned at the way it was phrased, but answered nonetheless.  
"First of all, you must know that this really isn't for me to tell, and you need to stop asking everyone else and just ask the boy already. Secondly," Charles continued, ignoring Erik's grunt, "You must realize that Peter has gone through quite a bit in these last months. Things that include what you do know, and what you don't."

Erik folded his arms. "Tell me, then. What have I missed?"

So the telepath began listing things off.

"He very nearly almost drowned in the outdoor pond a few weeks ago. If Raven hadn't seen him and gotten him out quickly, he would've died. Along with getting kidnapped by an anti-mutant organization, he was put into a machine that forced him to continually run, as fast as he was able, for prolonged amounts of time. He was also severely burned if he stopped or tripped. He ended up with third-degree burn trauma, minor muscle damage and significant damage to his legs. Then, from what you know; he was arrested, healing from the Apocalypse mess, going through lengthened emotional issues, dealing with Post-Traumatic stress, bullying and taunting from other students, and that isn't even including whatever you _haven't_ found out about."

Erik found himself speechless. 

Dumbly, he asked, "How did he almost drown...?"

Charles' hands tightened into fists. "From what I've gathered, Erik, he was alleviating stress and he ended up running for too long, before collapsing and falling unconscious into the pond."

Neither of them said anything and Charles was suddenly very aware that his breathing had become labored in his frustration. At least Erik was finally beginning to see sense.

"I'm... I'm sorry, Charles. I didn't know he was being tortured... at the time, I mean- if I had... I would've gone to him first. Until afterwards, it just seemed like he was locked inside. I didn't know they were-"

" _I_ am not the one who needs this apology, my friend."

**X-X-X-X-X-X**

At that point Erik knew he should go straight to the boy and try to sort some of this entire situation out, but after realizing just how much he had missed, he decided that he might as well talk to Mys... Raven, first, and see if there was anything else of major importance he should know.

(Why hadn't anyone told him this before now? They all seemed to expect him to know all of this.)

(Perhaps he should've listened to Charles and Raven in the beginning?)

(That couldn't be right...)

Only, after that incredibly awkward conversation he had with her, he was hesitant to go back. Raven had said things about him that he hadn't even realized. He had trouble with names? Well, now that it had been mentioned, he could obviously see that he did.

But it was completely a different story when it came to Peter Maximoff. 

Or... was it?

The more he thought about it, the more that it seemed he and Peter weren't so much of strangers as he had made it out in his head. The conversations they'd had before, albeit awkward, were still significant. 

Good memories.

Erik didn't have a lot of those anymore.

_"And you?"_

_"I'm your- I'm here for my family too."_

_"Don't be late."_

_"Faster than you are, man."_

_"I was saving that, you know."_

_"It's way good, man. You're missing out."_

_"So Raven was right, you are upset with me."_

_"I'm not upset man, this is just some fucking delicious lemonade."_

_"You know, Peter, that has your saliva in it?"_

_"Ohhh c'mon Mag-net-to! You can't complain if you are offered and don't take it!"_

_"Unsanitary. There's a cold going through the school; did you know that?"_

_"No..."_

The little chats they sometimes had when class wasn't happening, or in between classes in the halls. Sometimes in the Danger Room, sometimes in one of the kitchens. When Peter stole all of Erik's hidden lemonade, or when Peter offered a half-gone glass back to him. When Peter reluctantly challenged him to a race in the hall. When Erik warned the boy not to miss out on class. During the Apocalypse, when Peter and Raven had tried to knock some sense into him.

They had lots of good memories. In fact, Erik was surprised he hardly remembered the kid. 

But now that he finally looked back on it... he liked spending time with him, too. Although they were different, he felt himself charmed in an amused-sort-of-way. 

(Maybe Charles and Raven... they were right?)

(That couldn't... no. It could be right, they had been right, they were right. Erik had been wrong.)

**X-X-X-X-X-X**

"Let me get this right- you're telling me you feel bad about this?" Raven asked for clarification, still looking shocked that Erik- the mutant terrorist, Magneto- had admitted to have had been wrong about something. 

"Let's just say I realize I made a mistake."

Raven held her blue chin up. "Okay. So Charles filled you in. Why are you talking to me?"

Erik looked vaguely uncomfortable as he answered, "I realized that you were right. I remembered him as a person... well, I remembered that the two of us aren't exactly strangers. We've had lots of conversations, memories together. And you were right about another thing."

"You and names?"

"Yeah."

The female mutant looked at him for a long moment, speculating, before giving a wry smile. "I'll take that as an apology, Erik. Now, go talk to him. He's had it rough."

Erik nodded and quickly walked to the rooms. Raven watched him go, inwardly praying that Peter would seize the moment and finally tell Erik that they were related. She knew it had been killing him.

**X-X-X-X-X-X**

_Knock. Knock._

Let it be known that Erik Lehnsherr is not a patient man. 

_KnockKnockKnockKnockKnock._

That is, unless he is waiting in a prison cell. 

With a grunt of annoyance, (seriously, he finally decides to do something out-of-the-ordinary 'kindness' and the door is locked) Erik made his way around the mansion, weaving through floors and kitchens and classrooms, searching everywhere for the kid.

Finally he decided that perhaps the Maximoff boy had gone out running to 'relieve stress' or whatever Charles had told him. That left him feeling uneasy, especially since the last time that had happened, apparently the kid almost died. He couldn't have that. Not before he had another conversation with him.

He found Peter sitting by a willow tree, his face buried in his knees, crying.

**X-X-X-X-X-X**

After pathetically sobbing into Raven's leather jacket on the staircase, then awkwardly expressing he needed some time to himself and being an asshole and running off, again, he ended up under a fucking tree, crying by himself.

Seriously, he was a new sort of pathetic. 

Only, it didn't even end there. He didn't go cry to himself for a moment or two, think through things, come up with a solution, and do the mature thing. No- he sat under that _fucking tree_ for _six fucking hours_ and cried the entire time. 

He didn't even hope as much to want a father figure.

He just wanted his biological dad to notice him.

(Damn, he sounded childish. Boo hoo, daddy doesn't notice me. Over dramatic?)

Except, Peter was sick and tired of blaming himself. Of course he wasn't going to stop, because in his eyes this entire mess was his fault, (it was, it _was_!) but he really wished he had someone else to blame.  
He couldn't blame Erik. 

He felt alone.

He was alone.

Hell, he was sitting under a tree in the gardens, crying like a teenager after their first breakup. 

Jesus.

He was just deciding to start living under the tree and create an entire new life out there, when there was a rustle from a nearby bush and he whirled around, cracking his back several times in the process. His legs were already completely asleep and numb, so he doubted he could even stand at this point. 

What the hell- if it was a murderer, let them come. 

(He wasn't expecting Erik to step out from the bushes, looking surprised.)

And that's when Peter suddenly felt extraordinarily self-conscious about his appearance. Bloodshot eyes, rubbed red from crying and lack of sleep, curled into a huddle, leaning against a tree in the middle of the gardens, hair an absolute mess, not even wearing shoes- probably gaping at Erik like a goldfish.

"Oh- uh-" Erik started. 

Peter couldn't find words.

"Hello, Peter..."

What.

Erik finally took another step forward, then another, and soon he found himself sitting next to Peter. God, this was just as awkward as that germ-lemonade conversation they had a few weeks ago. Peter cringed at the memory.

"Why are you out here by yourself?"

And honestly, Peter didn't have an answer. He had been trying to figure the answer out for hours.

Finally he found his voice again, although it sounded raspy and broken from sobbing. "Uhh... I don't know... I just needed some fresh air?" He sounded like sandpaper and gravel. Erik didn't even react to how terrible it was, though, and just nodded. 

"Me too."

Silence fell again.

"Are you going to ask why I'm crying?" Peter blurted out, because it was obvious that Erik was going to ask that, and if not, he was at least thinking it very loudly. It didn't take a telepath like Derek or Charles to figure that one out. 

Erik looked relieved. "I was wondering. But you've stopped, now."

Huh. So he had. Peter supposed that after hours and hours of continuous crying, he would run out of tears eventually. And he didn't even feel like crying anymore. He just felt sad and lonely and sort of angry at everything.

So he started talking.

"Yeah. I'm... I'm, uh." Peter raked his mind for the proper words, but all that came out was his previous thoughts. "I'm sort of angry at everything."

And, god bless him, Erik _didn't_ look at him like that was the strangest thing anyone had ever said. He just nodded like it was perfectly normal and Peter was completely sane in feeling that way.

"You've got every right to be, after everything that's happened."

They had just started trekking on dangerous territory. Proceed with caution.

"...Yeah..." Peter said warily. "A lot has happened..."

"About that," Erik said, clearing his throat. "I'm sorry, Peter. About... about not being there when you needed me."

Something inside of Peter snapped as he said that, and again his eyes prickled with tears and the anger in his chest shot out. "Which time?" He asked, trying to be sarcastic, but it just sounded numb and dead as the words tumbled out.

Erik looked taken aback. "When-"  
The man cut himself off.

There were several long beats of silence. 

Finally Erik looked at his son directly in the eye.

"When you called and asked me to bail you out. And when you were kidnapped, and I didn't help you, I left you to get help from others when it would've been much easier for me to do it. And afterwards, when I completely ignored you, and didn't apologize- when I wasn't there when you were dealing with the aftermath. I realize now that I haven't been the best..."

The best what?

The best father?

The best teacher?

Peter wanted to scream. Peter wanted to scream to the world and to _Erik_ that he finally had a father who must've known that they had some sort of connection. He wanted to scream because finally Erik knew and finally this was Peter's chance to tell his father they were related. 

"...metaphorical... ah,-" 

And so Peter let the tears he had been holding back fall. And he let it all out. 

"-You're... father!"

Dammit!

That didn't come out right. It sounded like he had said 'your father', and that didn't even make sense unless he was finishing Erik's sentence. Shit.

Erik looked surprised. "I suppose? I'm not exactly-"

Peter swallowed the hunk in his throat and sat up and looked directly into Erik's eyes and said it.

"You're my... f-fa-the-r. "

**X-X-X-X-X-X**

As soon as he said it, everything went quiet and he could hear his heard hammering wildly in his rib cage and the blood pulsing in his ears. His own heavy breathing, the sobs that felt like they were going to come out at any second.

Erik's face had gone strangely blank.

After an eternity of waiting, (it was funny how Peter could sit for hours and cry like it had been minutes, but only a few seconds could feel like an age) finally Erik blinked, swallowed, and spoke.

"What?"

It was quiet- a mere whisper, but it rang out in the silence like a bullet. 

Peter shivered violently. _Raven and Charles are going to be so fucking proud of me, dammit._

"You... I'm your son. Um. Basically. Um. My mom's name is Magda... you're really my dad... ah-" Peter's breathing got quicker and quicker and slowly he felt more and more panicked by the lack of reaction from Erik. "She never told you- yeah- and- so, um! She was pregnant before she l-left you, but she didn't tell you, and... yeah..."

He was nearly positive Erik wasn't going to say anything until the other man spluttered out, "No- no... no... wait..." Shit, shit- he had broken Magneto- this wasn't good, oh man, not good. Raven and Charles aren't going to be proud. Erik looked borderline-hysteria at that point. "No! That can't be right- that can _not_ be right, I would've known, no- I would've... you..."

"Hey, man, sorry, I didn't bean to hit it at you like that-" And Erik looked up again, and Peter shut up because Erik was crying like he had been an hour ago. "Oh," He got out. Erik looked horrified. 

"I... I left you there... I..."

_Oh_. 

Erik... Erik wasn't in denial because he didn't want Peter as a son.  
He was in denial because he hadn't even thought of Peter as a son. _Ever_. He was _guilty_.

"It's okay!" Peter quickly amended. "Dude, you didn't know, there was no way for you to have known, and nobody blames you!" (Well... maybe Raven.)

They both were having an extremely hard time stopping the tears that ran down both of their faces. Sitting side-by-side under that willow tree. 

It was kind of nice, actually. In a weird sort of way.

Erik just reached out and touched Peter on the shoulder, grabbing them with both hands, and leaning forward to give a watery smile into his son's eyes. 

"Peter, Peter, Peter, Peter..."

And it just felt so damn good to hear his name out of his father's mouth, after all that time. It only made it better that now Peter felt like he really did have a father. Later they would figure out if Erik really wanted to be that sort of figure in his life... if not... Peter could survive.

At least...

At least Erik...

Well. 

Peter burst into tears again and practically fell onto his father, legs still aching from disuse. 

"Thanks," he blurted out. "For being here... for coming..."

_For being there when I needed you._

**X-X-X-X-X-X**

Charles and Raven looked out the window that looked onto the gardens. 

"Can you hear them?" She asked. 

The professor nodded. "I could. I decided I'd better not, though."

Raven shifted her weight. "Just a little glimpse? Just to make sure they aren't tearing each other apart?"

Charles raised two fingers to his brow for a moment before letting out a little relieved laugh and turning back to his sister. She nodded impatiently. "What is it? What did you hear?" The telepath turned away from the window.

"They'll be just fine."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Danke schön!  
> Thanks for reading!
> 
> Well, hopefully the end wasn't too lame. (⌯⌅⌄⌅)  
> Make sure to hit that kudos button (if you liked it!) and that comment button. (even if you didn't like it, hehe!)
> 
> I'm going to have a lot of new fics out soon, a lot of them being Loki!Centric, some Tony!Centric, and probably a bit more Dadneto. I'm going to be updating my 100-something writing prompt challenge, get some new fandoms out there... if you like any of that stuff, be sure to check it out when it gets out.
> 
> Thank you all so, so much.  
> Best of luck to you all~


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